(Photo courtesy of Verboten)The speakers!
The recently announced Red Bull Music Academy Festival isn’t the only reason you need to unburn those raver pants: Verboten — the club long slated to join Output, Brooklyn Bowl, Kinfolk, Rough Trade, TBA and others in Williamsburg’s ever expanding Big Entertainment district — has announced that it will throw open its doors this Friday.
After dropping a teaser last month, Jen Schiffer and John Perez — who’ve been producing roving dance blowouts under the Verboten name for over ten years — are now ready to unveil their 750-person, 10,000-square-foot “multi-functional event space” for live music, art shows, burlesque performances, even yoga and fitness classes.
A steel door. (Photo courtesy of Verboten)
Saturday will bring the launch of the monthly Wasabassco Burlesque Show (free with RSVP), but let’s face it, what’ll really have the green and yellow cabs lining up at the former metal manufacturing warehouse is the custom-designed Martin Audio sound system, the state-of-the-art lighting and projection systems, a 1,400-square-foot dance floor made from wood reclaimed from a phonograph factory(!), and of course the DJs.
This is a throwback dance club, folks: expect $20 to $30 covers and house, techno and live electronica going till 5 a.m. and beyond.
The initial lineup (below) promises sets from techno/house big-up Josh Wink, wildly popular electronic outfit Cut Copy, and more. Also confirmed are Grammy Award-winning composer/producer/DJ Carl Craig, Grammy-winning Jamie xx (of The xx), John Talabot, Damian Lazarus, and more. Queen of the club kids Susanne Bartsch will also have a night.
The floor. (Photo courtesy of Verboten.)
According to the press release, there’ll be DJ booths in both the large Control Room and the adjoining Cabaret Bar, the latter of which is described as a “futuristic take on a Weimar-era cabaret, with plush leather banquettes, multiple skylights, steel chandeliers and a small stage with a DJ booth.”
True to the cabaret theme, the drink menu will focus on absinthe and cocktails named after dystopian sci-fi novels (which makes us think of the old HR Giger room at Limelight). Have your first look below. The small plates menu, launching in the summer, will focus on “forbidden foods” like bacon and foie gras, per the release.
Team Verboten is still being somewhat secretive (they aren’t releasing photos just yet, though we managed to snag the ones shown here) but here’s what to expect this weekend and beyond.
March 14 Rebel Rave: Damian Lazarus, Francesca Lombardo, Fur Coat, Ida Engberg, Pattern Drama
March 15 Wasabassco Burlesque Show
March 21 Gui Boratto
March 22 Magda, Bill Patrick | Matt Tolfrey, Ryan Crosson, Shaun Reeves, jozif
March 23 Cut Copy [DJ Set] March 28 Zeitgeist: Jamie xx, John Talabot
March 29 Susanne Bartsch presents KunstUpcoming in 2014: Bespoke Music, Carl Craig, Catz n’ Dogz, Davide Squillace, Josh Wink, Justin Martin, Lee Burridge, Matthew Dear, Push The Night, Speedy J, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Tiga, Trouble & Bass, and more to be announced!
Verboten, 60 N. 11th St., nr. Wythe Ave.; 347-223-4732